Dem Demonization Fail

Democrats have put a lot of effort into demonizing the Koch brothers, but it looks like that strategy is working out for them about as well as Nancy Pelosi’s advice to run on Obamacare. It turns out that launching a daily Two Minute Hate against a couple of guys from Wichita that have never run for office, are not on any ballot, and whose charities include hospitals, ballet, and even PBS, doesn’t get a whole lot of traction beyond the fever swamps of the left. We know this because of the Battleground Poll, a bipartisan effort polling one thousand “likely voters” run by a Democratic pollster, Celinda Lake, and a Republican one, the Tarrance Group.

After months (years, even) of vilification, the brothers’ negative numbers (25 percent) are actually less horrible than those of Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who gets thumbs down from 35 percent, or the president who draws a negative reaction from 49 percent of voters. This only highlights how daft is the scheme to run against two private citizens not on the ballot and largely anonymous. (The effort, of course, is more properly seen as a fundraising ruse and lame attempt to engage the Democratic base.) But, it’s all the Democrats have these days.

Of course, the Democrats don’t have much in the way of positive issues to run on. Obamacare is a disaster, foreign policy an embarrassment, and government waste and incompetence are more visible than any time in my memory.

Democrats have put a lot of effort into demonizing the Koch brothers, but it looks like that strategy is working out for them about as well as Nancy Pelosi’s advice to run on Obamacare. It turns out that launching a daily Two Minute Hate against a couple of guys from Wichita that have never run for office, are not on any ballot, and whose charities include hospitals, ballet, and even PBS, doesn’t get a whole lot of traction beyond the fever swamps of the left. We know this because of the Battleground Poll, a bipartisan effort polling one thousand “likely voters” run by a Democratic pollster, Celinda Lake, and a Republican one, the Tarrance Group.

After months (years, even) of vilification, the brothers’ negative numbers (25 percent) are actually less horrible than those of Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who gets thumbs down from 35 percent, or the president who draws a negative reaction from 49 percent of voters. This only highlights how daft is the scheme to run against two private citizens not on the ballot and largely anonymous. (The effort, of course, is more properly seen as a fundraising ruse and lame attempt to engage the Democratic base.) But, it’s all the Democrats have these days.

Of course, the Democrats don’t have much in the way of positive issues to run on. Obamacare is a disaster, foreign policy an embarrassment, and government waste and incompetence are more visible than any time in my memory.